4:10 Now the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people was accomplished, in accordance with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people went across quickly, 4:11 and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed as the people looked on. 1 4:12 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed for battle ahead of the Israelites, just as Moses had instructed them. 4:13 About forty thousand battle-ready troops 2 marched past the Lord to fight 3 on the plains of Jericho. 4 4:14 That day the Lord brought honor to Joshua before all Israel. They respected 5 him all his life, 6 just as they had respected 7 Moses.
4:15 The Lord told Joshua, 4:16 “Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenantal laws 8 to come up from the Jordan.” 4:17 So Joshua instructed the priests, “Come up from the Jordan!” 4:18 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and as soon as they set foot on dry land, 9 the water of the Jordan flowed again and returned to flood stage. 10
4:19 The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month 11 and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 12
1 tn Heb “in the presence of the people.”
1 tn Heb “men equipped for battle.”
2 tn Heb “for war.”
3 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
1 tn Heb “feared.”
2 tn Heb “all the days of his life.”
3 tn Heb “had feared.”
1 tn Traditionally, “the ark of the testimony,” another name for the ark of the covenant. The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut, “testimony” or “witness”) here refers to the Mosaic covenant and the body of stipulations contained within it (see HALOT 2:791).
1 tn Heb “and the soles of the feet of the priests were brought up to the dry land.”
2 tn Heb “and the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went as formerly over their banks.”
1 sn The first month was the month Abib (= late March-early April in the modern calendar). The Passover in Egypt also occurred on the tenth day of the first month (Exod 12:2; 13:4).
2 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.